Really Gone
by 8cheshirekat
Summary: Ichigo/OC "For someone as strong as you, I don't see how you didn't know." "Tell me!" "She's the daughter of a noble Shinigami, trash." THIS STORY IS AN ON-OFF. I'M WORKING ON OTHER STORIES, 'kay? thanks!
1. Chapter 1: Mina

(Ichigo/OC, IchiRuki-implied, Uryu/OC, Toshiro/OC) What if the one person who loves you the most is the only person who can save you now? She can give Ichigo the strength to save Rukia, but at what cost? Ichigo hardly knows her, but the Soul Society is about to send a deadly attacker to take her out, if Rukia hadn't gotten in the way! Now, Rukia's life dangles by two threads; the attacker's only human trait and a girl nobody knew existed until just then. Ichigo must decide between love and true friendship.

* * *

-Karakura High-

Ichigo slumped in his seat as the last bell for the day rang. He slid his bag off the hooks on the edge of his bed and started putting his books away. He had missed it, the whole day, because Hallows were attacking from everywhere. Kon had taken care of it and hadn't caused anymore troubles for Ichigo.

But Ichigo always noticed a bit of strange looks from some of his classmates.

He was just getting up when he noticed he'd missed his homework notebook and it had fallen. He went to pick it up when someone else did.

Ichigo wasn't shocked it was Mina Tezuka, the girl who sat behind him. Why her parents gave her a guys name was beyond anyone's idea. But Mina was a pretty girl, too. She had a blend of marigold and orange eyes. Her hair started out brown and faded to black towards the back and down. She always wore a silver chain with an empty locket that was quite small. Her socks were black and went under her skirt.

"Mina-san, arigato."

She nodded, a faint blush forming on her face.

Ichigo blinked and then remembered their height difference. She was only four-feet, nine-inches tall... and he was five-feet, nine-inches. The whole foot and the fact that she was more slender than other girls and the fact that Ichigo was more muscular made Mina look absolutely tiny beside him.

Something about Mina always made Ichigo feel welcome, no matter where he was. She cheered him up after so many little things that could've gone wrong. Mina seemed to blend into the background, though.

Ichigo could swear that Mina had a sixth sense, because he could feel an aura of some reiatsu coming off her. But she showed no signs of knowing Hallows were around the school at all when Kon would switch with him.

"Kurosaki?"

"Mm?" he replied, putting the notebook away.

She paused and waited for him to finish, like she always did. "What happened to Kuchiki-sama?"

Ichigo started and then looked at Mina. "What?"

"She's acting strange. She's normally docile and kind. Today she was... happy and out-there. Did something happen between you two?"

"No. What gave you that idea?"

"You're just so close to her, is all." She smiled and then turned away. "I need to go. ja ne, Kurosaki-kun." She ran out the door.

Ichigo watched her go and wondered if she could really tell the difference...

Something split the air and made it heavy and Ichigo knew it was a powerful hallow heading towards the school. But as suddenly and quickly as it rushed in, it vanished right before the main gates. It was as if it had just popped in and popped out. Ichigo grabbed up his school bag and bolted out the door, running to catch up with Chappy, Uryu, Orihime, and Chad. He knew Rukia had been injured and Urahara was taking care of her.

He nearly bumped into the back of Mina. Instead, he moved to the side and kept running.

Mina's orange eyes followed the back of his head. She never saw his face as often, now that he had a million and one friends. She was a wallflower and Rukia had beaten her to the one person she admired and wished to be with. Mina closed her eyes and started walking the opposite way that Ichigo was going. She lived not far from the school and was planning on retiring to her room quickly.

No point dawdling over Ichigo.

He already had a girlfriend.


	2. Chapter 2: Mutual

"Understood, sir."

As she rose to her feet, she left her head down. Leaving the presence of the Emperor, she vanished around the corner and out of sight. Once there, her shoulders slumped and she exhaled, deeply. She ran a hand through her bangs and noticed someone watching her.

She smiled. The eye patch was making it easier to transition her new teammates to her real look, with the deep scar that was slowly being filled in, thanks to Unohana and Division Four.

"Shiro-chan..."

He looked away and crossed his arms. "I'm _not_ Shiro-chan."

"Sure, you're not." She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you worried about me?"

"Somewhat." Toshiro looked up at her and then looked away. "I hope you return safely from your mission."

She smiled again and walked towards the exit. "Thanks."

"Be safe!" Toshiro blurted out as the doors closed behind her. He lowered his hand and listened to the silence. He didn't want Ummamachi to die, not this soon. Toshiro was just getting used to talking to her again. He was still unsettled by being in her barracks, but he wanted her to be a close friend before he told her about his "feelings" towards her...

-Tezuka-

She slumped against the door, letting her back slide down the surface. He bedroom looked dark and bleak at the same time. The moon was already rising and the walls were whiter than snow. She stared up at the bare windows and watched the stars twinkle down at her.

Ah, if only she'd be called down for dinner. If only her mom would come in and ask what's wrong. If only her dad didn't live a million miles away.

Ah, the ifs of being the child caught between two families.

Tezuka's mother had a new boyfriend and his son and her father lived with her half brother. The two boys of the family were about grade-school-aged. Tezuka was in high school. Her dad was a wealthy man and lived in a large, old-fashioned house. Her mom lived in a small apartment.

Still, being at her mom's wasn't fun. Tezuka would come home later than the others, since she had a part-time job after school. She would buy any groceries and be home well after her "brother" was asleep and her mom was out.

She got up and went to the window. She sat out on the ledge, her legs dangling on the outside. The moon was beautiful.

-Grimjow-

He dropped onto the street. He was in an uncomfortable body that Aizen had granted him.

Behind him, Ulquiorra, Halibel, and Stark were in the bodies as well. They were going to split up and find this girl of Aizen's interest.

Grimjow let the others go first before he started in _a_ direction. He had no idea what she looked like, where she lived, or even if she was really a she! Still, Aizen had given them each a sense of her presence; gentle, calming, almost solemn. It was the only way they'd find her.

He stopped at a three-story apartment complex and his eyes widened. He looked up and saw her.

The black and brown hair blowing in the breeze, the long, slender, pale legs swinging around, and those orange, _orange_ eyes. She was wearing a familiar set of cloths.

Orange met blue.

They seemed to come to a silent agreement that they would know each other soon.

Grimjow, however, felt that something was different about this girl. There was a spark of a shinigami inside of her. Her soul was like a permanently sealed shinigami, one born like that. But there was also something very human about her soul. It was like half of her was human and didn't want to change.

On the window sill, she could feel it. Something unforgiven that nobody ever sought to forgive. But it was still like half of _him_ was wishing to be somewhere else.

A mutual understanding came over them and they looked away from each other.


	3. Chapter 3: Begin

Grimjow pushed the door aside and stepped into the classroom. His bag was tucked under his left arm and his hand was tucked into his uniform pocket. He was displaying himself as a student to get at the girl Aizen wanted. His face markings were gone and his mask was not present. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hair styled like it always was.

He spotted her. She was sitting on the window ledge and, since today was her turn to do morning duty, she was supposed to be setting up all the desks and making sure the chalkboard was clean and prepped for class. However, it was all done, and she was playing with something that hung around her neck on a silver chain. Her eyes were distant and her mind seemed awkwardly not there. There was something wrong with her face, like she couldn't think of a word and her thoughts couldn't trace the pattern.

He cleared his throat, letting his right arm fall from the handle on the door. "Is this the right classroom?"

"Are you Jaggerjack?"

"Close enough. Just call me Grimjow."

"Grimjow, right. My name is Mina Tezuka. I'm what you call the class unknown..." She gave a weak smile. "Sort of. That doesn't matter. I have to write your name on the board for the teacher." Tezuka's eyes stopped on Grimjow's hair. "Please don't tick her off. She'll ask you to dye your hair..."

Grimjow raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with blue?"

"Nothing, I think..." Tezuka smiled weakly again. "That aside, it was nice to meet you, Grimjow-san."

Grimjow raised an eyebrow. "Need any help with that thought?"

"Yeah. No! I mean..." Tezuka looked down, confused, and then looked back up. "How'd you know that?"

"I've had that look before. What's the phrase?"

"You can't do something to a horse when you lead it to water. It was something I was trying to remember last night. I was trying to make up something to make Kurosaki smile. He hit a bit of a rough time and I like to help." She shrugged. "You don't have to help."

"It's kind of like 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', the phrase is 'you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink', right?"

It was like it clicked. Tezuka smiled at Grimjow. "Thank you," she said, gently punching his arm. "That was very kind of you." She dropped the smile. "Although, this is the longest conversation I've held with anyone since I was small."

Grimjow made a face and Tezuka waved her arms about to try to explain herself. "No, no, no, that makes sense. You can live in a shell and never come out. I can see that being a problem, but it's still strange with you." Grimjow tossed his bag on the teacher's pedestal. Leaning against it, he watched her with narrowed eyes. '_Why does Aizen want _that_ girl? She's not very important to anyone._'

-Machi-

"Target acquired." She stood there, watching the poor child she would have to wipe out.

If this girl did too much to Kurosaki Ichigo or Kuchiki Rukia, she might alter the course that they both needed to take. But if she stopped, Kurosaki Ichigo might wind up not being able to defeat any major hallows that come to Karakura Town.

Machi sighed. She'd have to bide her time until Tezuka was alone. Then, nobody would take a second look. She would die in an alley on the way home. It was easy for the police to write it off as a mugging or overdose of some kind. But something about Tezuka told Machi it wouldn't be a good idea.

Still, Machi had a feeling she knew that blue-haired boy talking to Tezuka.

"Take the target out when you have the chance," said the voice on the other side of the communication unit.

"Understood." She closed her eyes. That meant she would have to forget her heart and go with her orders, no matter the cost. She'd done it so many times before, but this was going to be a disaster to her own conscious. Slowly, Machi opened her eyes.

They were cold, dark eyes now. Her face was pale and unemotional. Her jaw was set. Her mind was made up. But there was a little softness in her eyes.

When she took out Tezuka, she would let Tezuka see her feel the sorry and unnerving face. Machi always let them see her true feelings right at the end. It was the same mercy and emotion she felt the day she saved Toshiro from the hallow.

For now, though, Machi had to prepare for her first kill. It was the first time she would kill a teenager born of a Shinigami and a mortal. It was time to take out the half-bred girl who could change the course of fate for Kurosaki Ichigo.


End file.
